Can't Fight the Moonlight
by alyseci5
Summary: The snow starts falling again, thick and fast. Abby/Connor Spoilers: Set late season 1


**Pairing:** Abby/Connor  
**Spoilers:** Set towards the end of season 1.  
**Disclaimer:** Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Author's Notes:** Written for my Terimaru because I have evilly addicted her to Primeval and because I was taking happy Abby/Connor prompts. This one was about snow. Title from 'Can't Fight the Moonlight' by LeAnn Rimes, which means it fits into the ARC's Top 40 challenge as well.

Thanks to aithine for the beta read.

-o-

The snow starts falling again, thick and fast, as they pull up the lane. Cutter's truck is ahead of them, the taillights red in the darkness. Abby's driving their car, having smacked Connor's hand away with a look as he reached for the keys. He doesn't really mind. She's a competent driver - quick and sure - but the mini's wheels are still slipping in the slush on the road and forcing Connor to grab at the door, holding on for dear life.

The skidding - and the snow - doesn't seem to faze Abby. She just flicks the windscreen wipers on when the flakes - large and moist - start sticking to the windscreen.

The snow finally eases off just as they reach the anomaly, the fractured light spilling over the hedge into the lane, brilliant in the darkness. Connor can't say he's disappointed that the weather is picking up. It's all very well wishing for a white Christmas but it's not Christmas yet and Connor's **not** looking forward to going out there. Abby flings the door open, letting the snow swirl in, and leaps out energetically. He sighs and pulls his hat further over his eyes before following.

The wind shifts just long enough to blow the flakes into the back of his neck, where they melt against his skin and slide under his collar. He shivers, and pulls his coat more tightly around himself, trudging through the sludge around to the boot, where Abby is already unpacking.

The snow doesn't seem to faze Abby either. She's calm and confident as she pulls their kit together, handing him the night-vision goggles without even looking at him, too busy checking the tranquilliser pistol before she shoves it into her pocket.

She'd slapped his hand away from that, too, back at the Home Office, and he sighs again, shoving his hands more deeply into his pockets, knowing that he looks ridiculous with the goggles pushed up to his forehead and his hat perched on top of his head.

Cutter and Stephen head in one direction, Stephen's head tilted towards the ground as he checks for tracks. Stephen's hair is already damp, sticking up in spikes, and he looks about ten times cooler than Connor in spite of it. He's got to be cold, though, in far fewer layers than Connor's wearing. Connor would offer him his hat if he thought Stephen would take it.

Or maybe not. Stephen's tough - he's sure the other man can cope with a little adverse weather.

He and Abby head off in the other direction, leaving Claudia by the cars to wait for their backup to actually turn up. He'd feel a little happier if Ryan was already on the scene but Abby's already striding through the snow and he hurries to catch up with her, fiddling with the straps of the night-vision goggles and stumbling through the small drifts that had piled up from the swirling flurries of snow.

When he finally pulls the night-goggles on, Abby's the hottest thing out there, so it's understandable when his eyes are automatically drawn to her form. Parts of her form anyway.

"Stop staring at my bum, Connor."

He starts guiltily, stumbling again over something hidden by the curving waves of snow, and she turns to smile at him. At least, he thinks she does - he's still viewing the world in shades of red and orange, and she's just a series of bright blobs in a vaguely Abby shape. If she's not smiling at him, he's in trouble.

"Sorry," he says, calling after her as she turns away again. "You're just hot."

Her snort of amusement drifts back at him as she turns her head to look in his direction again and he flushes, wondering if Abby's view of him reflects it - a bright patch of red where his face should be. She doesn't comment, though, just heads off again and leaves him wallowing in her wake.

In his defence, Connor thinks a little wistfully, Abby **is** hot, and in more ways than one.

The snow's not deep but his feet are still freezing by the time they finally flounder out of the tree line. He probably should have worn something a little more suited to the weather than his Converse. Abby's far more sensible about these things than he is - he might be floundering but Abby moves smoothly out into the moonlight ahead of him.

He follows her, eyes darting everywhere, but there's nothing showing up on the night vision goggles. Nothing bright out there but Abby, who shines more brilliantly than the moon.

He should be cold, but he's worked up a bit of a sweat and though his feet are numb the rest of him is overheated. He's grateful when Abby finally comes to a stop and he takes the opportunity to loosen his scarf and undo the top couple of buttons of his jacket, stamping his feet to bring the feeling back to them. There's still nothing to see, nothing showing up on infrared, and he pulls the goggles down this time rather up onto his forehead, letting them hang around his neck as his eyes adjust to the moonlight.

The moon is full and the light floods everything, turning it silver and bright. The snow reflects it and it's beautiful and peaceful. So beautiful, so peaceful, he half expects something to leap out of the undergrowth and eat them but nothing stirs.

Abby doesn't make any move to get started again and, after a moment, he stops huffing and puffing and looks across to where she's standing, still and quiet. Her face is turned towards the open fields stretched out in front of them and she's pushed her own goggles up as well, although she looks considerably less stupid than Connor probably does. She looks cool, like Tank Girl or something, all badass leather and don't mess with me demeanour. Knowing she's armed doesn't do anything to detract from that impression. Or the attraction.

Connor looks out over the fields again, searching for whatever has caught her attention, but there's still nothing. He moves closer to her, and that's got nothing to do with the fact that she's the one with the gun and he's still expecting a Jurassic Park moment. It might have taken a while, but after everything that's happened - Tom dying, Stephen being injured - he's not trusting in anything any more.

Not anything but Abby. And maybe Cutter and Stephen.

"What is it?" he asks when he's close enough, his voice little more than a whisper.

She glances over at him and blinks. "Oh, nothing." Then she takes a deep breath, holding it in for a moment and then letting it out, throwing him a smile. "It's just lovely, you know?"

He nods, but now the idea of something eating his - and Abby's - face has got a hold of him, he finds it difficult to concentrate on the scenery. "So there's nothing out there?"

She smiles again, throwing him another one of those near exasperated looks she gives him sometimes. He takes them in his stride - at least she's looking at him and not Stephen, and they're mates now, he and Abby. There's clear affection mixed in with it now and he'll take what he can get. "Nah," she says. "If there was anything out here, we'd have seen tracks by now, especially given the snow. And I haven't seen anything. Have you?"

Connor shakes his head although, frankly, they could have walked past T. rex tracks in the darkness and he's not sure that he'd have spotted them. He doesn't point that out though - he quite likes the way that Abby's talking to him like he could actually be of more use than the guy with the database. But then, he has saved her from a mosasaur. Well, once anyway, but that must count, right? It must have done something to convince her that he was reasonable in a crisis, or she'd have gone off with Stephen or Cutter rather than just assume that it was going to be Stephen and Cutter on one team and them on the other.

The thought warms him more than stamping his feet and rubbing his arms does. But he still buttons his jacket back up.

Abby takes his silence as agreement and goes back to staring out at over the fields. He takes a step closer, his mouth opening to say something stupid no doubt, and then there's a shrill scream out in the night.

He might take another step closer to her, his eyes frantically scanning around for whatever caused the sound - caused it, not made it because things out there might be eating other things and...

"Relax, Connor," Abby says, moving away slightly so that she can smile up at him. "It was a fox."

"Oh." Now he feels really stupid. "Sorry. City boy, here."

"They do actually have foxes in the city these days, Conn," she mocks, but it's gentle and he quite likes that she's taken to calling him 'Conn' occasionally. Tom used to sometimes, and Duncan too, but Duncan doesn't talk to him any more and Tom...

"Well, can't say I've ever seen - or heard - one," he admits, and he's still close to her but she hasn't moved away yet. At least not very far.

"I saw one with a Tesco's carrier bag once," she says and she doesn't look like she's pulling his leg. "Early one morning. There it was, crossing at a zebra crossing, bold as anything." She smiles as she remembers and it's bright, even in the moonlight.

"Huh," he says, mulling it over. "That's weird. I would have sworn they'd shop at Sainsbury's," and she elbows him, still smiling, but that's okay too, because this time she doesn't pull back as far.

The snow has started again, but it's drifting down now, far more gently, and it lands on her nose, her eyelashes, in the gleaming silver of her hair. It's so still and quiet out here, no noise of traffic, no foxes shopping at the local supermarket, and she's almost ethereal in the darkness. He half expects her to grow pointed ears while he watches, like Galadriel or something. All shall love her and despair.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" she says and he nods, not looking away from her face, the line of her cheek, the fall of her hair. She turns her head and catches him watching her and his face flames again but he still can't look away.

He's tried kissing Abby before, but it's always gone wrong somewhere, all messed up by his nervousness and Abby's obliviousness and her crush on Stephen that seems to have - thankfully - died a death. Maybe it's the moonlight making him reckless but this time he doesn't let his nervousness stop him but follows through to the definitely not bitter end.

It's a little clumsy and her nose is cold against his cheek as he angles his head to press his lips against her mouth but she doesn't pull away and she doesn't punch his lights out when he pulls back. She just tilts her head and looks at him, the shadows playing on her face as she blinks, long and slow, and then 'hmmms', a slow, secretive smile spreading on her face.

And then she straightens back up while his heart is still pounding because he can't believe he did that, and says, cool as anything, "I suppose we'd better find Cutter and Stephen, tell them that if anything did come through the anomaly, it didn't come in this direction."

He blinks at her a couple of times, opening and closing his mouth before nodding rather numbly in agreement.

She smiles again and turns towards the tree line before looking back at him. Her smile isn't secretive this time. It's bright and warm and, as she turns away, her fingers reach back for him, catching hold of his hand. She tugs at him, getting him moving, stumbling a little as always, but Abby's right there waiting for him to catch up as they start trudging back through the snow.

Connor doesn't feel the cold anymore. Abby's hand, tight in his, is enough to keep him warm all the way back to the car.

The End


End file.
